I agree with your insight. The fad is part of a whole spectrum of seeing children as miniature adults - it goes right along with giving children sex ed complete with condoms, and with allowing children to dress like miniature adults, especially young girls. Look in clothing catalogs for children and if we haven't yet had our senses dulled we should be shocked at the sexual poses not to mention the suggestive clothing. It's part of why some people think young girls should be able to take birth control and have abortions without their parents knowledge.
Then there's the 3 year olds with cell phones, and the kids with their house keys around their necks who get themselves up in the morning, find their own breakfast and lock the door behind them as they leave for school and then fend for themselves after school until their parents get home from work. All because we think they're capable of having the same privileges and responsibilities as an adult.
So it's just a small step from there to holding them responsible for things that we would an adult.
The whole spectrum is wrong and unfair to the child. They need to be allowed to be children, in every sense of the term.
The whole spectrum is wrong and unfair to the child. They need to be allowed to be children, in every sense of the term.Absolutely. Mainstream marketing seems to be able to sexualize anything and target it at children. An for no better reason than to make a buck.
The other part that disturbs me is the violence. There are still some limits on sexual content but violent content, especially in video games, seems to be virtually unrestricted. An article that discusses this. Here's a quote:
Lt. Col. Scott Sutton, director of the technology division at Quantico Marine Base, where the mock-up M16s are used, says soldiers in this generation "probably feel less inhibited, down in their primal level, pointing their weapons at somebody." That, in effect, "provides a better foundation for us to work with," he adds.When kids are playing the same games the military teaches soldiers to kill with we have a problem.
I don't have any doubt that these two are related either. Think about the line the extremists feed their sons. They cover all the women up and then take naturally horny young bucks and tell them they can have 72 of what's behind curtain number 1 if they just blow themselves up. What's going on in our society is nowhere near as extreme but not completely different either. Our corporate machines glorify violence and portray sexual rewards for seriously anti-social behavior.
I'm not really on the same page on sex ed though. Sexual urges are one of the strongest drives God gave to mankind. I think kids need to understand them. Especially while they are experiencing the strongest of them. They should be taught that creating children before it's time brings a lot of misery. I remember having an appalling lack of information as a teen and engaging in very risky behavior. And I grew up in the Church and wasn't a latch key kid. There was no shortage of talk of abstinence either. Like all kids we "knew" what was best for us and that our "love" would conquer all.
Abstinence is a great target but not everybody reaches it. We shouldn't demonize the kids who don't. I guess it's part of my children are gifts of God and shouldn't be thrown away line. They aren't perfect. With some guidance even the non-abstinent ones grow up to be productive members of society we can be proud of.
There are lots of ways to address the problem of teen pregnancy. Getting the garbage out of the media would go a long way. Providing strong role models helps. Teaching them the value of waiting is part. But helping those that don't wait keep from producing children they don't have the emotional or physical resources to provide for is important as well.
I know some see it as a theological point and I respect that. I just don't agree with them on that point.